Existing schemes for those most at risk of fuel poverty will be boosted by £10m, while a new fund for local authorities and charities to tackle cold housing will receive £20m, which could help about 10,000 households.

Health secretary Andrew Lansley said the money would help "protect those most in need", while the charity Age UK described the plan as a "very important step in the right direction".

According to the Department of Health, more than £850m is spent by the NHS each year as a result of the impact of cold housing on people's health. In 2009/10, the cost of emergency admissions due to falls on snow and ice was estimated at £42m. In England alone there is a 20% increase in deaths during the winter, when an extra 27,000 extra people die compared with the summer.

But consumer groups warned that the underlying problem remains the spiralling cost of energy. In October, Age UK warned that more than 200 older people will die every day because they can't afford to heat their homes this winter. And with the 'big six' power firms ramping up prices, Consumer Focus said the poorest households were most affected.

Officials claim that if £10m is put towards Warm Front – an existing scheme to support people in fuel poverty – it could provide about 5,000 low-income households with improvements to insulation and heating worth £3,500.

Meanwhile, the Warm Housing, Healthy People fund will invite bids from local authorities and charities for innovative ways of helping vulnerable elderly people, families with young children, and people with disabilities who do not qualify for existing support to warm their homes.

Lansley also launched a Cold Weather Plan, which will be jointly run by the Met Office and the Health Protection Agency and will advise people how to stay healthy during the winter, in a bid to relieve the pressure on the NHS, and a Getting ready for winter website.

Michelle Mitchell, Age UK charity director, said: "The government has set a new emphasis on public health as one of its key objectives, and this Cold Weather Plan is a very important step in the right direction."

Met Office figures show that December 2010 was the coldest December in the UK since 1910, and the winter before was the coldest since 1978.

While many associate cold weather with hypothermia, deaths directly caused by this represent only a small proportion. But heart attacks and strokes account for 40% of excess winter deaths, for example, while GP visits for respiratory illnesses increase by up to 19% for every 1C drop below 5C of the mean temperature.